We need help deciding what food to take. This is our second year and we want to be prepared. We dont remember eating anything, I mean we dont remember anything at all. So, maybe you have some good suggestions for food to bring with. Something you may have found you could not live without or that one tasty morsel that made your day shiny and new. What ever you find to be your favorite will be a great suggestion for us. Thanks a bunches.

if you search the board there are a ton of threads on this topic :)
some of my favorites:

foods:

frozen fruit salad! - i always buy up a bunch of fresh fruit, chop it up, and freeze it before the burn. if you store it in ziplox and squeeze all the air out, you can just lay it flat in your freezer and it ends up very compact. it also helps keep your cooler cooler for longer ;)

bagged tuna steaks - you can find these right next to the canned tuna in the store. great for quick tasty protein, these are pre-spiced and dont need refrigerating..you can even take them out with you when you leave camp for a quick snack while you are out and about (dont forget to bring a fork ;) ).

chips and salsa - essential! a very social food, and salty and crunchy is good for the soul.

granola/trail mix - kind of obvious, but not to be left out, i make big batches of my own at home, measure them out into little single serving size lumps and wrap in foil. cheap and wonderful!

olives - salty and very energy-dense due to the high fat content.

good dark chocolate - perfection. this is the most wonderful thing to break out 5 days into your week to treat yourself.

drinks:

tomato/veggie juice - the saltiness is so so good when you are running a little dehydrated, for some reason it just tastes like heaven out there!

coconut water - so hydrating and yummy (and very portable)! keep one by your bed so when you wake up hot as hell in your dome/tent/yurt/whatever you can chug one right when you rise. trust me :)

emergen-c, protein drinks - the harsh environment on the playa, along with the glee of adventuring, will deplete your body of important vitamins and minerals. i always keep emergen-c on hand to replenish electrolytes, and a good protein shake mix, like Alive or any non-denatured whey protein powder will do wonders for your energy levels.

when choosing foods, keep in mind that you wont want to do much preparation as the heat can be pretty exhausting and the city is one big distraction that will always be tugging at you. think plenty of portable foods, but don't go overboard with it. cooking just a couple nice meals can really make your week more enjoyable. our first year everything we brought was canned, dried, dehydrated, prepackaged, and we really missed real food!

I couldn't decide where to put this, so this food thread seemed like as good a place as any. I was just at our regional event, Lakes of Fire. In an attempt to keep my cooler as funk free as possible I bought a selection of zip lock bags to keep my food segregated from my ice and melt water. About half of the ones I bought were the new fangled zip locks with the plastic "zipper" closer. AVOID THESE AT ALL COST! Not a single one ended up being water tight! They all ended up leaking or filling up with water. Stick with the old fashioned zip locks which performed excellently or better yet vacuum seal.

Whatever you take, remove all wrappings. Put what you can into plastic bags, freeze flat, to help keep cooler longer and save space. This works very well for at least pudding (raw pudding full of nutritious stuff, not just milk), hummus, ceviche, black bean soup/salsa, etc.

Canned goods keep well. What was good for grandpa is good enough for me; vennie wennies, pork and beans, peaches or fruit cocktail. I put raviolios on the dashbord to heat up, only takes an hour in the sun.

Remember your can opener and spork. As a vet, I wear a p-51 with my dogtags. I shop at the dollar store, most of their groceries are non-perishable anyway. I buy soup cans with the pulltab, eat right out of the can. Always carry a big cup along with your water bottle, someone may offer you a tasty snack.

You can get fast food in Reno to last for the first couple of days...fried chicken, pizza, long johns fish, etc... I make a bread sack of sandwiches for first day.

You can always pay to go on the shuttle bus to Brunos for some diner food late in the week. A couple years ago, I had to go in to make a phonecall, I got some chicken fried steak that was fabulous. The waitress loved the origami dollar bills someone gave her as tips...

Your not going to starve in a week, don't worry about it. I carry lemon drops in my pockets for energy when I get tired or grumpy. You will get grumpy, just drink some water and swallow some food. Have fun!

For some reason wheat pasta tastes quite exceptional out there and is quite easy to make with a camp stove. Another thing I like is tabouli salad stored in Tupperware or hummus and carrots. None of these create a lot of garbage considering other options and it sure tastes better than seven days of energy bars.

All of this can be tastefully washed down with a steaming cup of virgin's blood. (Sorry, I can only play Martha Stewart for so long.....)

Trader Joes for pre-cooked indian rice mixes, and a variety of other foil packed meats, stews, etc. Try their soups in a box, the tomato is awesome.

Buy giant ziploc bags, put ice from artica in them and when they melt you have either drinking water, shower water or both if you lean your head back, open you mouth and stick your tongue out like this...

Another tip, put your food in the waterproof river style bags, per Dr Pyro the food stays frozen wayyyy longer.

Excuse me Ma'am, your going to feel a small prick._______________________________________

SilverOrange wrote:About half of the ones I bought were the new fangled zip locks with the plastic "zipper" closer. AVOID THESE AT ALL COST! Not a single one ended up being water tight! They all ended up leaking or filling up with water.

You do need to close the zipper on those you know. They tend to be much more water tight that way.

SilverOrange wrote:About half of the ones I bought were the new fangled zip locks with the plastic "zipper" closer. AVOID THESE AT ALL COST! Not a single one ended up being water tight! They all ended up leaking or filling up with water.

You do need to close the zipper on those you know. They tend to be much more water tight that way.

Simon of the Playa wrote:monday.....taco belltuesday.....olive gardenwed..........thaithursday... indian tandoorifriday.......fish fry, duh.saturday...domino's pizza....they WILL deliver if you gift them well enough.Sunday....Applebees take out.Monday....Raviolis at Bruno's.

You mean I"ve been living off Indian Tacos all this time when this was available.

Although, not Bruno's. That's where the DPW casualties end up.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

After several years of not eating much while on the playa and hating the clean-up that happens when you do prepare food, I came upon a great way to eat really good meals. I precook all of my favorites at home (ie pasta dishes such as mac & cheese, bean dishes such as lentils or black-eyed peas, stews) then freeze them in vacuum packed "seal-a-meal" bag. I have a Foodsaver brand vacuum sealer that does the job. Then when ready to eat, I put the bag (either still frozen or thawed) into boiling water to heat it up and eat directly from the bag. Even pasta maintains its consistency and doesn't get mushy. Minimal mess and clean-up. And I reuse that same pot of water for many meals.

There are some commercial foods that you can buy packaged like this such as "Tasty Bites" that are also great. You can even buy rice that is in a boil bag that works well. Yes it's converted rice but it tastes great on the playa.